One Step At A Time
by ymirqueenqueer
Summary: Decided to make this a compelation of One Shots! Will probably be mostly Ikarishipping. May contain Pokeshipping and Contestshipping, too. Rated M because Lemon/Smut in one chapter
1. The Proposal

He wasn't my first boyfriend.

Before him, there was Barry; he got bored of me and left after a year or so. Before Barry, there was Kenny. Kenny cheated on me with my best friend. I have since gotten over it – she's a much better fit for him than I ever was – but at the time, it hurt like hell.

The most recent one, he was the worst. His name was Conway. Dating him was the worst decision I think I've ever made. He seemed like he really cared about me at first. I was willing to give Conway a chance, but he ended up doing more than just breaking my heart. He ended up hitting me. He was always rough with me. Once I got out of that relationship, I tried to stay alone.

It wasn't until I ended up in Veilstone City during a freak storm. I had taken up refugee at Reggie's place, thinking it was the next safest place for me to go since the Pokémon Center was packed. Reggie was willing to take me into his place, though I would be left alone because he had business to attend to at the gym.

I figured I was completely alone, so I huddled onto the edge of the couch, willing myself not to cry. Thunder storms were my weakness – nothing scared me more than thunder and lightning. I was just trying to hum to myself, but every crash of the storm made my heart race. Soon enough, it felt like my heart would fly out of my chest cavity.

"What are you doing here?"

I squeaked and shot my head up to look at who was addressing me. "Oh, n-nothing, really, Paul. Just waiting for Reggie to come back," I said to him rather nervously.

He ended up taking a seat next to me and turning on the TV, keeping the volume low. "So why are you crying?"

I brought my hand up to my cheeks, and to my surprise, they were wet. I cursed inwardly, I didn't want to cry, and I certainly didn't want anyone to see me. When Conway would see me cry like this, he would just yell at me. He would call me names, scolding me for acting like a child.

I was about to reply to Paul, who was looking at me expectantly, when another crash of thunder was heard. I jumped in my seat and buried my face in my hands.

"You're afraid of storms..?" He asked gently. I simply nodded my head in response, preparing myself to the onslaught of nasty names.

I felt the seat next to me shift, but I didn't look up. Not until I felt watch surround me. When I looked up, I saw that Paul had gone to retrieve a blanket for me and was now in the kitchen boiling water for what I assume would be tea.

He put the tea on the table next to me, sat back down, and draped his arm across my shoulder. I looked at him, confusing spread on my face. "Why are you doing this?" I questioned him.

"Maylene is scared of storms, too. This is how Reggie makes her feel better, so I thought it might help you too."

I smiled up at him, moved closer, and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Thank you".

It had now been years from then, and my pervious defense were down. I shifted in my bed and looked over at the person sleeping next to me. I hugged him from behind, which caused him to stir. He looked at me, and pressed a chaste kiss against my lips.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked my boyfriend.

I just got a grunt in response and I giggled. "Wasn't much sleeping getting done under somebody's insistence."

I looked up at him, blushing brightly. He just had a smirk on his face.

"I hate you," I said looking away, embarrassed.

He got up and went to the bathroom. "Not what you were saying last night," he called as he walked away.

"Paul!" I yelled as I threw a pillow in his direction.

I know he was teasing me. He had done nothing but make me happy these past few years. Of course we had our rough patches, but he made the effort to fix them, rather than leave me in the dirt like my past boyfriends. I thought there was nothing that could make me happier.

That was, until we went out for dinner. It was Valentine's Day, and I knew that Paul usually wasn't the type to do stuff on this sort of holiday, so I was confused. We sat there, waiting for our meal, making small talk. He seemed distracted the entire night. It wasn't until we were done with our meal, taking a walk in the park that I understood why he was so nervous.

"Dawn," I looked up at my boyfriend, confused but willing him to continue, "God, this is so embarrassing and cliché, but you make me really happy. More happy than I've ever been." I felt my eyes begin to water as he continued speaking. "Well, I guess it's now or never, right?"

He kneeled down and pulled out a small velvet box. "Dawn, will you marry me?"

My hands went up to my face in shock and I began to cry a bit while I was nodding. "Yes, yes, yes!" I repeated excitedly.

He chuckled as he slid the ring onto my finger. "I love you" he said before he pulled me into a passionate kiss.

"I love you, too" I said.

It was in this moment that I knew that nothing in this world would make me happier than the man in front of me.

Well, except maybe a few kids one day.

 _HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!_


	2. The Marriage

_This is a continuation of my Valentine's day one shot! Please enjoy :)_

* * *

It had been two years since Paul had proposed to me. We spent the past years saving up our money and working to find everything for the perfect wedding. At least I was. Paul wasn't really into the whole wedding planning thing.

May and Serena, Ash's friend from Kalos, helped me the most, besides my mother, when it came to wedding planning. They all helped me find my dress, my bridesmaid's gowns, the perfect cake, marble chocolate and vanilla, so please Paul, and the perfect venue.

"Paul," I said one night when cuddling against him. "Why don't you help me with all the wedding planning?"

"It's your day. You make it how you like. I don't care as long as you're happy," he said simply, like it should've been obvious to me.

I smiled at him and kissed his cheek, finally turning over to go to sleep.

Today was the day. I was sitting in my dressing room, dress on, hair and makeup already done, and thinking about what would be happing shortly. After a short ceremony, I would be Mrs. Shinji. I bit my lip and smiled, beyond excited. I was nervous, but I knew there was nothing I wanted more than to be with Paul for the rest of my life.

"Dawn, you look absolutely radiant," I looked up to be greeted by my mother with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe my baby is getting married! Your father would be so proud of you," she said while holding my hands in her own.

I smiled at what she said. I never met my father, he passed away while my mother was pregnant with me, so hearing this brought me a small sense of comfort.

"Mom, do you think that dad would've liked Paul?"

My mom looked at me and seemed to be thinking deeply as she bit her cheek. "I think," she began saying, "that he would've been a bit critical. Not just of Paul, but of any of your boyfriends. He wouldn't want to see you get hurt. Although, I think, of all the boys out there, he would've trusted Paul the most. Paul has certainly brought out the best in you. This is the happiest I've ever seen you, and I know that your father would've just wanted you to be happy."

When she finished, I looked at her, tearing up a bit. "I really am happy, mom. I'm happy to hear that you think dad would've given us his blessing."

My mother pulled me in for a comforting embrace. Now, any sense of nervousness I felt before was gone. I felt strong, knowing that my father would've approved of Paul being my husband.

"Dawn," I looked to see Serena poking her head into the room. "I'm sorry to bother you guys, but it's time."

My mother and I pulled away from each other. "No need to worry, mom." I said to her and she smiled at me softly.

"That's when I worry the most."

I squeezed my mother's shoulders before walking over to Serena to stand in the wedding party. I took my place at the back next to Palmer.

"Dawn, you look amazing," he said to me as we linked our arms. I smiled up at my mother's old friend, the closest that I had to a father.

"Thank you so much. I'm so excited."

He looked down at me, beaming with excitement. You could really see where Barry got it from.

My bridesmaids and maid honour had already made their way down the aisle, now it was my turn. With a deep breathe, Palmer and I began to make our way down the center of the church. I could feel my smile growing as I looked forward to Paul.

He was standing there in a tuxedo, looking absolutely amazing, but the best part, was the look on his face. He had brought he hands up to his mouth to cover it, tears forming on his eyes a bit, although he would deny that fact when she talked to him about it later. He was obviously stunned to see just how beautiful I was. Seeing his reaction made me smile wider.

Once Palmer and I reached the front of the church, I turned to him and give him a hug, thanking him for everything he's done for me over the years. He, too, had tears forming in his eyes as he looked at me. When Palmer walked off, I turned to Paul, who had his hand stretched out to me. I grabbed his hand and went to his side.

"Dearly beloved," the priest started. "We gather here to unite these two people in marriage."

"You look so beautiful," he whispered while leaning into me.

"You don't look half bad yourself," I smiled back at him, giving his hand a squeeze.

Nothing the priest said really managed to register in my brain as all I had on my mind was the fact that after this, my name would be no longer be Dawn Berlitz. My name would forever be changed to Dawn Shinji, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Do you both pledge to share your lives openly with one another, and to speak the truth in love? Do you promise to honor and tenderly care for one another, cherish and encourage each other, stand together, through sorrows and joys, hardships and triumphs for all the days of your lives?"

"We do."

"Do you pledge to share your love and the joys of your marriage with all those around you, so that they may learn from your love and be encouraged to grow in their own lives?"

"We do."

The priest turned towards Paul. "Paul, please take the ring and repeat after me."

Paul grabbed the ring, repeating the words the priest had said while sliding the ring onto my finger.

"Now, Dawn, please take the ring and repeat after me."

I grabbed the ring and followed the priests' instructions, my eyes never leaving Paul's as I smiled.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Paul and I smiled at each other before leaning in and giving each other a passionate kiss. The entire church erupted in applause. Once we pulled away, I felt as if my smile could get any larger. I looked out to the crowd and saw my mother. She was holding her hands to her chest, smiling as she cried.

My new husband grabbed my hand and smiled at me. We then began to make our way out of the church and walk hand in hand to our new life together.

* * *

 _I've decided to make this link into a compilation of one shots. Hope that's okay!_


	3. Going Home Early

This is so sinful omg, I'm so sorry. **SMUT WARNING. TURN AWAY.**

Prompt: imagine person A coming back home earlier than expected from work. they hear person B moaning their name and at first A is worried because they think something happened to B, so they run and barge into B's, only to walk in on B masturbating.

* * *

It was a lot earlier than usual. Paul usually got back home from work between 9 and 11 at night, but it was only 6pm and he was already walking up to his door. He sighed softly with a small smile graving his lips. Because he was home so early, he wasn't tired, meaning he would actually get to spend time with his gorgeous wife.

Walking into his home, he expected to see her in the kitchen, working on her dinner or making more designs for her job as a Pokestylist. Instead, he was alone I the kitchen. He was curious at first. Her car was in the driveway, she had to be home.

"Paul," he heard. It sounded like his wife. Had she hurt herself? Where was she?

"Oh, Paul!" he heard again, growing increasingly worried. He started fast walking towards the sound of her voice.

"Paul!" her voice practically screamed. He ran towards the master bed room.

"Dawn!" he said before taking in the sigh before his eyes. There she was, his gorgeous wife. Laying on the master bed, in the nude.

"Oh my god, Paul!" she squeaked while trying to hide herself "What are you doing here" she questioned, trying to sound innocent.

"Troublesome," he growled while walking towards her. He knew what he saw. He definitely saw her touching herself. Moaning. His name.

She looked him in the eyes, but instead of seeing anger, she saw lust. "What you doing there, Troublesome?" he questioned her as he started to climb over her. "Her heart was racing. She was already excited from what she was doing, but now Paul was here, directly above her.

"N-nothing" she managed to stutter out.

"Hm, didn't sound like nothing" he said as he began to kiss her neck.

She bit her lip to suppress her moan. "It wasn't anything, I swear".

"Hm," he said. He knew she was trying to control herself. He didn't like it. Honestly, hearing her moan his name and seeing her touching herself had really aroused him, but now, he's actually touching her, and she's trying to be quiet. This upset him, so he began to suck on her neck, knowing he'd leave marks.

Dawn's breathing got heavier. She was becoming even more aroused. He hasn't touched her like this in a while because of his job taking most of his time. But here he was, touching her. She loved it.

Paul began trailing kissed down her neck, going down towards her breasts. Swiftly, his mouth went to her already perky nipple and began to run his tongue over it while massaging the other with his free hand. Dawn began reacting more, grabbing his hair and pulling him closer while moaning softly. Soon he made his way to the other breast, giving it the same treatment as he did the felt herself getting more and more excited.

She began to moan again before Paul's mouth covered her own. He kissed her roughly, taking control of her. She was so focused on his rough kisses she didn't notice his hand trailing down to her lower lips until she felt him insert two fingers in her.

She threw her head back and gasped. He took the chance to start attacking her neck with kisses while continuing to pump his fingers in and out of her. She began moving with him, trying to get his finger to go in deeper. He smirked into her neck, feeling his pants getting tighter and tighter from his arousal. Too soon for dawn, Paul removed his fingers and she pouted, wanting more. He chuckled and brought his fingers to his mouth to suck her juices off. She began to get even more aroused just watching him. Wanting to give him some satisfaction, she took his fingers, still with her juices on them, and began to suck on them.

Paul looked at her and smirked, kissing her quickly once his fingers were licked clean. He went down to her womanhood and began to lick her lips slowly. She moved her hips, obviously wanting more, but he held her down. He began gently sucking on her small nub of nerves, making her wrap her thighs around his head. Once again, he held her legs open to give himself better access.

"Paul, please" she begged him while looking down at him and gripping their bed sheets. He knew what she wanted, and he granted her wish. He stuck his tongue into her, licking all her inside. She began to moan loudly and tried to move her hips to bring his face closer. Moving one of his arms, he began to play with her clit to bring her more pleasure. Soon enough, she came. It overwhelmed Paul at first, but he did his best to lick her clean, feeling accomplished in knowing he can make her knees shake like that.

Dawn was breathing heavily and looking up at him. After collecting herself, she pulled him up towards her, trying desperately to remove his clothing. He smirked at her.

"Excited?" he asked with a smirk.

"It's not fair that I'm the only one naked." she said simply, as if it was only logical he be stripped too.

Chuckling, he began to help her strip his clothes off. He wanted nothing more than to feel relief for the growing throbbing in his pants. Once his pants were off, she wasted no time to grab his throbbing hard on and begin bobbing her head up and down. He groaned, grabbing a fistful of her hair, trying to get her to take in more of him at once.

She pulled off for a bit, massaging his length with her hand and focusing her mouth on just the head of his penis, running her tongue along the very tip. He knew she wanted him to cum. He was trying his hardest to control himself, but it wasn't working very well. He began to buck his hips, probing her to take his full length in her mouth. She simply hummed and it was over to him. His seed was released and she tried to swallow it all, only missing some that dropped onto her chest, which she just licked up anyway.

Paul looked at her again. He was so in love, nothing else matter but the two of them. She gently pushed him down so he was laying and she sat over him. She had her hot core right over his penis which he felt getting hard again. She pressed down on it a little and wiggled her hips ever so slightly, causing him to groan again. He felt himself getting harder and harder. She kept her womanhood right above his manhood while she bent down to give him a passionate kiss which he more than happily returned. Once she felt his tip poking at her, she moved her hips again, silently letting him know what she wanted.

He moved to sit up slightly and gripped her hips while slowly lowering her into him. She moaned loudly, adjusting to his size and gripping his shoulders tightly. When she was all the way down, he let her adjust. She began to sway her hips, testing the feeling. Once she was ready, she began moving her body up and down to ride him.

He threw his head back, feeling too aroused to safely look at his wife's perky breasts that were bouncing right in front of his face. He held her hips, trying to get her to gain speed. He looked at her face, contorted with pleasure, but that look in her eyes. She was telling him it wasn't enough. She knew that she needed more to be pleased. He swiftly flipped them so he was on top and began to pump himself in and out with her bucking her hips so he went in deeper.

All that was heard were their pants and moaning and the slapping of their hips hitting each other. He grabbed her legs and moved them so he could go in deeper which caused his wife to moan in ecstasy. He felt her walls clutching on him, letting him know she was close. Her being so close to her edge drove him closer to the edge.

"Pauull" she screamed out, dragging out his name as she came. He kept pounding into her, following soon after her, moaning as he spilled his seed in her, riding out his orgasm. Without pulling out, he laid next to her, panting. She was panting to and just looked at him, pushing some of his lavender hair out of his face.

"What?" he breathed out.

"Nothing, I just. Why were you home so early? How did we end up like this?"

"They let me leave work early. I heard you moaning. At first, I thought you had hurt yourself, knowing how troublesome you are, but then I came up here, and you were masturbating," he continued, smirking when he saw her blush. "You were moaning my name and touching yourself. turned me on, so I thought why not give you the real thing?"

"Oh, sorry" she said nervously

"For what?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I know you were probably tired and busy and I don't know."

"You're my wife, Troublesome," she pouted at his use of her nickname, "I'm supposed to give you that pleasure."

"Oh," she said while blushing harder. She untangled herself from her husband, finally removing his member from her, and limped to get dressed.

"Where you going?" he frowned. "I thought after sex came cuddles? Or am I doing something wrong?"

She giggled at him. "You're not wrong, but I certainly worked up an appetite. I'll bring you up a sandwich or something".

"You're all I need for dinner" he said, smirking and pulling her into him again, crashing their lips together.

The kiss quickly began passionate and heated, and soon, dinner was forgotten.

* * *

 _omg, I'm sorry if it's bad, I'm yonug and inexperienced, lol._

 _This is my first ever try at Lemon/Smut so please, be gentle._

 _That sounds wrong omg I'm sorry don't hate me._


	4. Happy Ending

_Prompt: Person A gets stood up on a Friday night and now has to walk home in the rain, but is stopped by Person B riding a motorcycle, who offers Person A a ride home. Person A obliges and eventually, Person B and Person A start to hang out, eventually falling in love._

 _Ikarishipping, slight Contestshipping_

* * *

It was a bad Friday for a certain blunette. First, she woke up late for school, granting her a detention after school. Then, there was a pop quiz, and she couldn't focus. Now, she was waiting for a date, but he should've been here at 7. It was already 8.

Finally coming to terms with the fact she was stood up, she stood from the park bench and began to walk home, tears starting to roll down her face. _'This can't get any worse,'_ she thought to herself, until she heard a crack of thunder and it began raining.

"Really?!" she screamed out at nobody in particular, just yelling at the sky to let out her frustrations. She kept walking, not knowing anymore if her face was wet because of the rain or because of her tears.

Suddenly, she heard a motor pull up to her. Fearing the worst, she kept her pace and refused to look at the vehicle.

"Dawn," the rider said while taking off their helmet. She looked at him, cursing herself when she realised it was none other than the school bad boy, Paul Shinji. "You okay?"

She sighed, "No, Paul. No, I'm not okay."

He just nodded his head and stretched out his helmet to her. "Want a ride home?"

"Yes, please. Thank you," she said while grabbing his helmet and pulling it over her head. She was about to get off before Paul shrugged off his leather jacket and handed it to her. She looked at him quizzically, but accepted the jacket nonetheless.

"You're freezing and rain really hurts when it hits your skin while riding," he explained to her while she climbed on behind him.

"Thanks," she said simply, while squeezing his midsection to stay safely seated on the bike. He simply grunted and began to drive off towards her house.

Once he pulled up in front of her house, she realised her mom wasn't home. At first, she was shocked, but then remembered that her mom had taken the night shift at the hospital in the next town over. She stood up from Paul motorcycle and took off the helmet.

"Would you like to come in?" she offered him. "You're soaking wet, and the storm doesn't look like it's letting up any time soon. I imagine it's rather dangerous to ride a motorcycle in these conditions." He raised an eyebrow at her, believing that there was more to the reason she had offered him shelter. "Also, my mom isn't home, and I really don't wanna be alone."

To this he nodded, turning the motor off and climbing off the bike. "Sure, I don't mind keeping you company."

She smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you," she said with a genuine smile.

Once inside and dry, the two teenagers sat across from each other, on either end of the couch. Dawn kept her eyes down, not wanting to see him judge her for being weak.

"So," he said suddenly, breaking the silence, "You want to tell me why you were out walking in the rain past 8 at night? You have a death wish?"

She scoffed at him. "For your information, mister, I had a date," she began confidently. "Well, I should've had a date," she finished quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"He stood me up. I sat there, on a park bench, waiting for a text or a call, something, anything, for an hour. He never showed up. He never called or texted me. So I left. I cried a bit. It started raining. Then, you showed up," she explained, bringing her hands up to her face, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

She felt the couch shift, but didn't bother looking up to see what he was doing. She was embarrassed. She didn't want anyone to see her cry, let alone a cute bad boy. _'Wait, what!?'_ her mind screamed at her. _'Cute?! I mean, he's not bad looking, but I don't even know him that well!'_

Soon, she felt herself being pulling into a hard chest. She looked up and saw he was looking away, a slight blush dusting his features. "I'll have you know, I don't normally do this, but I can't just not do anything when you're just crying." She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you, Paul."

"So, you're telling me that you don't like those girly movies? Like those romantic comedies?"

She looked at him, a little offended. "Generally, no. I'm not much of a romance person. I don't date often and I'm not really interested in all that romance stuff."

He raised an eyebrow at her, completely unconvinced. "Really?"

"Yes, really," she said, sounding exasperated. "What makes that so hard to believe?"

"Well, you're you," he said simply, like it was the obvious reason. "You're so girly and sunshine and… pink."

"After all this time and you still don't know me, I'm hurt, Paul," she said while drawing a hand up to her chest, acting like her heart ached at his cluelessness.

"Well, considering the first time I really talked to you, you had just been stood up from a date, I assumed you were more into dating."

She sighed, thinking back to that night. "Really, I didn't care all that much. I mean, I did because I was having a shitty day and I was mostly going out with him to make my friends leave me alone. They can't understand I'm content being single. I don't think I've met somebody that I really want to date."

He looked like he was thinking about her answer before shrugging and nodding his head. "I think I get what you mean. Like, there's a couple girls that are pretty cute, but I can't imagine myself actually dating any of them."

"See, you understand me!"

"Yeah, yeah, now shut up and finally pick a movie. I'll allow you to choose since now I know that I can trust you not to choose a terrible romance movie."

She giggled at him while he rolled his eyes before getting up to look at his movie collection. "This one," she said while handing a DVD case to Paul and plopping down on the couch next to him. He inserted the disc into his Xbox and sat back down and focused on the film.

While the film was playing, he was paying attention, but he was paying more attention to the blue haired girl next to him. Not that he would admit to it, though.

Paul and Dawn had left the city to go out towards the country. There was a meteor shower tonight and they wanted to actually be able to watch it. Paul threw a blanket at Dawn, instructing her to hold it for him. He grabbed a couple of things for his camera, needing to take photos for his brother, and they began their trek up a small hill.

Once at the highest pint, Dawn laid out the blanket and sat on it, waiting for Paul to finish setting up the delicate and expensive camera equipment. She didn't want to be the reason a piece broke. He soon finished and sat down on the blanket next to Dawn.

They began talking about small things. Whatever was happening at school or at home. Dawn complained about how May and Zoey still bothered her about her dating life. Paul complained about Reggie and his effeminate ways.

At some point during his rant, Dawn saw a flash of light in the sky and excitedly told him to shut up and look at the sky. Dawn looked at the meteors like they were the most beautiful things that she had ever seen. She was completely distracted by the sky.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Dawn said without taking her eyes away from the sky.

"Yeah, sure is," Paul replied. Dawn smiled then glanced over at him and realised that he had been looking at her instead of the sky. Her heart began to beat rapidly, something that was becoming more and more frequent when she hung out around Paul. She pulled her knees into her chest and bit on her lip, trying to slow down her speeding heart.

Paul looked away from Dawn and up at the sky. He was cursing himself for thinking the way he was. He wanted to kiss Dawn. She looked beautiful in the moonlight and the way her eyes shined while she was distracted by the galaxy was amazing. He wanted nothing more than to make her his, but he knew that was a bad idea. She had just confessed to him a month or so prior that she hadn't met somebody that she would want to date. As much as it pained him now that he'd realised his feelings for her, he would respect her.

"May," Dawn said urgently, "I need your help."

"What's up chickadee?" the brunette asked her friend, sounding slightly worried.

"How do you know if you love someone? What do you do?"

May looked at her friend with wide eyes. "What? Who?!"

Dawn quickly clamped her hand down on May's mouth, willing the brunette to quiet down. "I think I'm into Paul. Like really into him."

May smiled sweetly at her blunette friend who was now looking towards the floor as a blush dusted her cheeks. "Well," she began to say. "Typically, you would try to confess to them. Admit to them your feelings and see if the feeling is returned."

Dawn's face dropped, a frown now gracing her lips. "He doesn't feel the same."

"How do you know?"

"He couldn't possibly feel the same. He told me a month or two ago that he hasn't found anyone that he would date. Just girls that he thought were cute." Dawn sounded absolutely defeated. All she wanted was Paul, and she was sure that he thought nothing of her.

Just days after Dawn's confession to May, May found herself being approached by Paul himself. "Hi, uhm, you're Dawn's friend and I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

May looked at him, shocked. "Yeah, I'm May," she said introducing herself to him since they've never spoken before. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, I know that Dawn's birthday is coming up and I was wondering if there was anything she specifically said that she wanted?"

May continued to look at him, a small smile beginning to form on her lips. "Hey Paul, I have a question for you before I answer yours."

"Yeah?"

"Do you happen to have a crush on my dear friend?"

Paul began to turn a bit red but tried to remain stoic. "What, me? Having a crush on her? Never."

May's smile widened as he became more flustered and tried to hide it. "She didn't say anything she wanted this year specifically," she inhaled and smiled even wider when she noticed his shoulders drop slightly, "But, she's always wanted to receive jewelry from a boy."

Paul's mood shifted. "Thanks, Bandana. You've been a ton of help."

My puffed out her cheeks as Paul turned and walked away. "It's May! M-A-Y! What's it with people never calling me the right name!"

"What was that, June?"

"Shut it, Grasshead," she said to the new male that was walking in her direction before turning on her heel and walking out of the school.

It was Dawn's birthday. They were throwing a large party for her by the beach, but she managed to slip away from the party undetected. Sighing, she sat on the sand near a palm tree. The one person she wanted to spend her birthday with wasn't here. She would be sure to give him hell for it later, but at the moment, she just felt defeated.

"What are you doing all the way over here?" she heard somebody ask her. She turned around, instantly recognizing the voice.

"Paul?"

He walked towards her, hands in pockets. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh," she said blushing lightly. "No reason, really. I just had something on my mind."

He nodded his head. "Me too. Parties aren't really my thing. It's weird being here."

With that being said, Dawn suddenly felt sadness creep up from her emotions. _'He doesn't want to be here.'_ She thought to herself sadly.

"You know, you don't have to be here, then. If you don't like it."

"But, it's your birthday. So I have to be here."

"You make it sound like such an obligation," she said, rolling her eyes.

He chuckled lightly while taking a seat down next to Dawn. "You know what I meant."

They sat in silence for a bit. Dawn was too aware of the boy sitting next to her. Her heart was racing just by how close they were sitting to each other. "Here," he suddenly said, handing her a small velvet box.

"What's this?" she asked him, looking confused.

"Your birthday present?"

She took the box from him and gasped. Inside the box was a beautiful blue topaz necklace.

"The colour reminded me of your eyes." Dawn looked at Paul with tears in her eyes, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. When Paul noticed she wasn't saying anything, he finally looked at her. "I mean, it's okay if you don't like it, I didn't know what else to get you. I thought you would like it…" He started rambling.

Dawn looked at him. "Shut up, Paul," she said. With that, he stayed quiet. He looked at her, afraid of what she was going to say. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.." she trailed off as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Then why are you crying?" he asked, confused.

"Because, I know this doesn't mean what I want it to," he was still confused and she buried her face in her hands.

"What do you want it to mean?"

"Paul, I really like you. I like you more than a friend."

Paul's eyes widened as she said this. _'She likes me?_ ' he asked himself _. 'She actually likes me?'_ He tried to speak, but words seemed to be failing him.

"I know. I know that you don't like anyone, but I like you so much. I think I might even love you," she laughed to herself.

"Dawn, I," he started, but she cut him off.

"No need to worry. You don't have to say anything. I know. I know you don't like me-"

This time, she was cut off by Paul, but it was different. He didn't cut her off by speaking out of turn. He cut her off by smashing his lips against hers. At first she was dazed, but she quickly responded.

She doesn't know how long the kiss lasted, but when he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers.

"Dawn, you're an idiot," he started saying with a small smile. "I love you. I've loved you for a while."

"W-what?" she looked at him wide-eyed, not totally believing him.

"I didn't think that you would like me because you said that you haven't met anyone you wanted to date. So, I just tried staying your friend. I thought that would be the best I would get."

With that, she kissed him again. This time, with more passion. When they broke apart, she confessed again. "I didn't think you would like me because you agreed with me that night."

"So we're both idiots?" he questioned her, sounding amused.

"Yeah. We're both idiots, but it's okay. I'm your idiot and you're mine."

May looked at the new couple from a distance and smiled. She couldn't be happier for her best friend and was thrilled that she had given him the idea for the present that started the chain reaction.

"Not bad, May," she heard someone say. She turned around to be greeted by Drew. "For how dense you are, you're not too bad of a match maker."

"What do you mean for how dense I am?!" she asked, a bit angry.

Drew smiled and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, he saw that May had turned beet red and had her eyes wide.

"You never noticed, so you're pretty dense. I mean, how obvious do I have to make it? I gave you roses! The symbol of love!"

May just stuttered and turned away from Drew to hide her face. Maybe both her and Dawn would get their happy endings.

* * *

 _THIS WAS SIX PAGES ON WORD. It's not the longest thing I've ever written, but good Lord is it longer than usual_

 _i just had to throw in a bit of Contestshipping because I thought it was funny that Dawn would go to May for boy advice when she was so dense to Drew's advances. I should've been doing homework, not writing fanfiction, lol._

 _I'm participating in the Kanto Classic Online Tournament this weekend, so no guarentee of an update!_

 _Thanks for reading :)_


	5. Live

**Prompt: Imagine person A in the waiting room while B is giving birth. The doctor comes out and says "Congratulations, it's a (boy/girl)." Then, person A goes into the room and says, "Did you hear that, B? It's a (boy/girl)!" only to find out that person B has died giving birth.**

* * *

Paul was sitting in the waiting room anxiously waiting while Dawn gave birth. She had been in labor for quite a few hours and was understandably nervous for his young wife, he was worried about the pain she was in and how awful she must feel because this was the first time she's ever gone through childbirth. From what he'd heard, it's not exactly a pleasant experience.

At some point during his waiting, Johanna joined him in the waiting room, recalling when she went into labor with Dawn and how awful a time it was. She was trying to assure him that no matter how awful it was in the moment, nothing would beat the feeling of holding their child for the first time, and that he shouldn't worry too much about Dawn because they both knew just how strong she was.

A few more hours passed when finally, a doctor came out of the room. "Mr. Shinji?" Paul immediately stood at the call of his name. "Congratulations! It's a girl!"

Paul went into the room, excited and relieved it was finally over and he would get to see his wife again. "Did you hear that, Dawn? It's a girl!"

He froze at the sight in front of him. Instead of seeing his wife laying there, exhausted from the birth, he saw a white sheet covering her bed. The doctor walked into the room shortly after, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, sir, but your wife didn't make it."

"W-what?" He choked out. This couldn't be real. Dawn was strong. She was supposed to have their child and then they would get to sit there with each other, meeting their child for the first time.

"She lost too much blood. There was nothing we could do to save her. But the child, she's fine. I can take you to her incubator to meet her, if you would like."

Paul nodded at the doctor and followed him to where his daughter was resting. She had fair skin like her mother and a tuft of light purple hair on her head. He smiled slightly as he felt tears go down his cheeks. He stood there for however long until he was allowed to finally hold her. Holding her, he knew he was in love again. There was nothing in this world that he would love more than his daughter.

"Sir, do you have a name?" a nurse asked him while he was looking at her.

"No, I want to talk to my wife's mother before we decide on a name. Would you mind bringing her in here?"

"Of course," the nurse smiled at him sadly before turning and leaving the room.

Paul didn't know what to name her. He knew that Dawn had names picked out, but as far as he knew, she was only able to narrow it down to three names. He didn't know if she truly decided on one and just didn't tell him, or if she never was able to choose.

"She's beautiful," he heard Johanna whisper. He looked at her, noticing her puffy eyes and her bittersweet smile. "Do you mind if I hold her?"

"No of course not," he said while passing the newborn to her grandmother. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know the name Dawn choose for her?"

Johanna looked a bit shocked. "Dawn didn't tell you?"

"She told me she had narrowed it down to three names. Elizabeth, Aurora, and Jazmine, but she didn't tell me if she had chosen one for sure."

Johanna nodded and looked down at the infant. "She told me she would choose between the three when she got to meet her."

"I think Aurora suits her."

Johanna looked at Paul, then down at the child again and smiled. "Yeah, Aurora does suit her."

* * *

Now, it was Aurora's 10th birthday and she was almost ready to set off on her own journey. Paul was warry of letting his only daughter go off into the world, seeing as she took too much after her mother. She was headstrong, strong willed, over confident, and clumsy. She was every bit as troublesome as her mother.

"Dad, let's go!" she said, smiling at him. He breathed out a sigh and followed her. "I want to show you and mom my new partner at the same time!"

They walked to Dawn's grave, Paul keeping quiet, allowing his daughter to go on and on about how she was excited to see the world on her own and experience everything for herself. Eventually, when they reached Dawn's grave, Aurora became quiet and smiled. She bowed to her mother's grave in respect then turned to her father, her smile widening.

He raised and eye brow at her, but didn't say a word. Because he didn't speak, she decided it was time to introduce her partner Pokemon. "I know you say I'm a lot like mom, so I thought really hard about my starter Pokemon. I didn't know if I should go with Turtwig like you did or with Piplup like mom did. In the end, I choose neither. Mom, Dad, meet Chimchar!" As she finished her sentence, she released the rfire monkey from its ball.

Aurora bent down and picked up Chimchar. "Chimchar, meet my mom and dad." Chimchar looked at the man and smiled and toothy grin, but was confused when he didn't see a woman. Paul indicated the her mother was in the grave he was standing next to, to which the fire monkey escaped from its trainer's grip and stroked the headstone. Aurora smiled at her new Pokemon. "Also, dad, we've decided that we're going to be doing both league battles and contests! Right, chimchar?"

"Chimchar!" the fire monkey said enthusiastically.

Paul smiled slightly and nodded. "I'll be proud of you no matter what you choose, you know that right? Your mother would be proud of you, too."

"I know, dad," she smiled as she hugged her father. "Well, I should be off soon. Like you, I've decided to start off in Kanto. The boat leaves later this afternoon."

Paul nodded again. "Alright, you head back to the house. I'll make you something for your boat ride. I just want to be here for a bit."

Aurora smiled at him. "Of course, dad. Come on, chimchar!" Her partner Pokemon jumped on her shoulder as they walked away from the grave.

He looked down at the grave with a sad smile. "You know, just based off what happened, I can tell she'll spoil the living hell out of her Pokemon, just like you." He sighed to himself. "I wish you were here Dawn. What am I supposed to do now that you're not here and she's leaving too?"

At that moment, the wind blew, but this was different. It felt like the wind was alive and talking to him.

"Live," it said to him.

He smiled. "Still looking out for me after all the time, huh. If that's what you want, I'll figure something out."

With that, he walked away. Trying to prepare him for the new life that awaited him.

* * *

 _This has been sitting in my word documents since finals week back in April. I don't have an excuse for not updating, and I apologised, but here! Have this angst, haha._


End file.
